


A Matter of Trust, Ch3-Pt1

by Dressari



Series: Distant Worlds [7]
Category: Creators Keepers of Mana, Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures, Furry (Fandom)
Genre: CKoM, DMFA - Freeform, Elements, Furrae, Mana - Freeform, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-06 00:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11588883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dressari/pseuds/Dressari
Summary: Callis reports back to her benefactor with news about the strange Elevas clad individual she encountered, and sparks interest from the Red Baron as a result. Meanwhile after spending the night at the Inn it seems Adrian's worries about the eerie night from before were for nothing it seems.





	A Matter of Trust, Ch3-Pt1

\- 3 -

A knock on a large, sturdy wooden door echoed throughout the corridor. Callis had no idea how long this tower she stood in had survived, but it had been far longer than any stories she had been privy to. Patiently she waited, carrying a stack of papers under her arm, fatigue in her eyes from the long roads she had travelled. Morning had already broken and even the slightest amount of light beat down like a heavy hammer.

"...Enter," a deep male voice eventually called out.

Callis pushed the door gently inwards, opening up to a large chamber. Inside this warm room were shelves upon shelves of books; one giant sized library that rivalled even the largest cities in Furrae. The centre of the room was decorated plainly with little aside from a single circular white carpet with a large sturdy wooden desk resting upon it. Approaching, the adventurer stood before the cluttered desk, filled with scrolls, books and objects worthy of any researcher's private station. Drearily Callis offered a short bow to the chair at the desk that was turned away from her hiding it's occupant.

“Good day, sir, I have returned, my task complete,” declared Callis, exhaustion in her tone.

“Yes I know, already I have results... interesting ones too.” replied the male, his voice was noticeably distorted into a deep rough tone. “It almost makes up for Chandlus getting himself killed...” he lamented.

“Chandlus, sir...?” queried Callis, unfamiliar with the name.

“A dragon whom was under my study,” he answered and from over the top of the tall backed chair a small stone landed on the desk. It was a dull crimson, almost dark enough to suck out the life around it if it were able to, “No longer is that the case it seems.”

Callis's jaw dropped a little, she recognised this type of stone; it was commonly used in Adventuring guilds. They were tied to the souls of a specific individual, normally they would glow, showing that the individual was alive. In this case they were not, but that was not the most startling news to come to her ears, “D-Dead, sir? A dragon you say? I had no idea-”

“Do not fret, Callis, there is reason for me to keep many of my allies identities from each other,” interrupted the male. A cast of his hand waved out to the side of the chair showing a bright red sleeve with a leather gauntlet covering the hand. “His loss is only a minor set back, a shame really. It does make me wonder what caused his end however...”

“Cubi, sir?”

“Perhaps, but unlikely. His last assignment was near the Twinks.”

“The Twinks sir? I am afraid I did not encounter him.”

“You were not supposed to. Biggs... I wonder if he has... hmm...”

Callis hesitated her next words while silence rested in the air as her employer seemingly went into a deep thought. Perhaps news of that one individual would be helpful. “Uh, sir, if I may, I did encounter something unexpected on my return from Lost Lake.” she said.

“Do tell.”

“A Being, wearing armour that had your personal marking on the front,” elaborated Callis. She shuffled the top pages of the paper pile around a little, “The one you showed me, and his armour was-”

“Made up of Elevas.” finished the male, his hand coming to a dead stop in the air.

“I... is that what the material is called sir?” she asked having never heard the name of it until now.

The arm dropped down to the side, resting over the arm of the chair. Slowly the chair spun around to reveal its occupant. His face hidden by a single piece metal mask with a bronze colour, two indentations split parallel down the front a few inches apart with the sides wrapping around his face. Clothed in a simple crimson tunic adorned with leather, a number of tools and instruments hung from various points and along the shoulder bandoleer and belt. A full hooded traveller's cloak enveloped most of his body, stained a bright red and trimmed with yellow at the edges.

“Elemental Glass, a very flexible and powerful material in the right hands.” said the male.

Even though Callis could not see his face she felt his eyes stare through her, but with with an intimidating presence. No, the Baron had treated her well for her hard work and she knew he valued her.

The Baron continued, “That must be the interesting presence my sensor detected at the Inn,” he rested his chin against one of his hands leaning upon the chair, “A very powerful presence... I remember the armour you describe Callis. It is not one I have seen for a long time.”

“How did they come in possession of it?” she asked.

The Baron shook his head gently, “I... do not remember, I only remember that I left it in the care of someone important. But I do not remember whom either.” Sliding a hand upwards, he ran it along the mask and to the top of his head as if nursing a headache, “Curse this affliction, ngh, what an inconvenience. But, you say you saw this armour at the Inn?”

“Last night sir, I believe they stayed at the Inn.” answered Callis, gently placing the papers down onto the desk. Fumbling with a few sheets, she quickly slid them back onto the pile.

“This presence was also at the Twinks. How curious...”

“Should I prepare to intercept this Being, sir?” offered Callis with a short bow.

The Baron waved his hand at her, “No, Callis, you are tired, I can see that. You shall rest, in the meantime, I will investigate this presence myself. Perhaps seeing the armour will resurface my memories.” he said standing from his chair. “The pieces are falling into place, there are few places left to hide in the world. And I have a special message lined up for my old friend just to be sure that place is not one of them.”

“Finally, we'll be able to reach our goal?” asked Callis with a small crook in her lips.

The Baron nodded and motioned out to her confidently, “Mine, yes, but yours is just the start. I promise Callis, we'll both find our revenge.”

 

⁂

 

Sounds of buttons tapping rapidly while bottles clinking together rang in the main bar area of the Inn. The early hours of the morning sun lit up everything it could touch within the room, piercing through the windows intently. Alexsi wandered in, stretching her arms, already dressed in a new outfit ready for the next business day. Surveying the room, she noted that Abel, one of the Inn's residents, was behind the bar. It appeared he was sorting out the some of the merchandise.

Quietly, Alexsi greeted him, "Good morning, Abel." she said approaching the bar.

"Good morning, Alexsi," replied the cream furred and black spotted feline without looking to her.

“You know you don't start your first night 'til this weekend right?” she smirked, admiring his enthusiasm as a new employee of the Inn. Abel was slated to take over the night shift so that the Inn could remain open for night time arrivals - as another Cubi it made sense since he did not require sleep. Yes he was a Cubi, not a Being, he just preferred to hide his heritage a lot more often than Dan did.

“I know, just getting a head start,” remarked Abel, his one blue and one green eye reflecting off the mirror at the back of the drinks cabinet. He did not look at himself however, but instead at one of the guests that was seated at the far end, “I have never seen a Were appear so modern, or in armour,” he remarked.

"Were?” pondered Alexsi, glancing across the bar room and spotted the aforementioned Were, now wearing only the lower part of the armour that he had arrived in the night before. “Adrian?” she called out inadvertently, mildly confused. Hearing his name, the human looking Being cast a smile and a short wave at the inn-keeper. She waved back but was unable to hide her surprise at having a Were, in human form, in her Inn. She watched as he went back to work, sipping from a drink while typing at what she gathered to be a computer.

Alexsi leant towards Abel and in a hushed tone asked, “Has he been there all night?"

In the same hushed tone Abel replied, “Yeah, asked for a drink, started working. Said he was keeping an eye out for any trouble, should we be expecting any?” he asked, casting a suspicious glare towards Adrian through the mirror.

Did Adrian share the same bad feelings Alexsi had last night? Although she slept soundly without nary a worry, she felt relieved that she had not been the only one to sense the same air of tension last night. Alexsi shook her head gently, “No, things are fine Abel. If anything, I'd say the Inn had plenty of protection last night.” she smiled then pointed to a few of the bottles, “Oh, by the way, that there isn't part of the normal stock, slip that back under the cabinets.”

Abel nodded and proceeded to follow her instructions. His time at the Academy taught him to always be on guard for the unexpected or the unusual, and that was a very unusual Being he saw in the reflection. Quietly he said, “I think I've seen that symbol on his armour before, in a book or... something.”

“The one of a bird?” queried Alexsi, Abel nodded again in reply, “At the Academy?”

“Possibly, but I can't put my finger on it.” he admitted.

Alexsi shrugged her shoulders lightly, “Try not to worry about it Abel. Adrian has been nothing but polite, I'm sure it's just a decoration.” she told him, trying to ease the obviously tense Cubi.

Nodding once more, Abel continued, shuffling around bottles and cleaning down the more vintage ones that had not been touched in a while. He watched Alexsi approach Adrian through the mirror, keeping on guard for any 'Just in Case' scenarios. Appearances had a way of being deceptive, and as a cubi, deception came naturally to them.

“Good morning, Adrian,” greeted Alexsi.

“Good morning, Alexsi,” returned Adrian with a welcoming smile, voice no longer distorted by the helmet, his fingers withdrawing from the laptop computer, “You seem a little, surprised.”

“I am, a little,” she admitted, leaning against the other side of the cubicle with an arm, “It is not every day you see a Were walking around in that form.”

Called a Were again, this was going to be a trend Adrian was going to have to get used to as he chuckled, nodding slowly. His computer had spent most of the night compiling all the information he pulled from Biggs's device. “I can tell that is going to be a common misconception,” he said, leaning his arm to the side and resting against it, “I am not a Were, what you see is a human appearance, but I am neither.”

“That is... oddly confusing, if you are neither, than what are you?”

Adrian hesitated and let out a long sigh, frankly he didn't want to go through the whole trouble of explaining himself to every one that asked. Maybe he should consider keeping the helmet on full time for now or use that other ability of his for a while. “Sorry, it's a long explanation, lets just call me a Being with unique properties.” he claimed politely.

“It's not my business to pry, though many will probably assume the same thing as I did.”

Adrian grabbed his drink and lifted it to his mouth, “Yeah I'm getting that impression, I hear humans died out a long time ago though. Biggs had a lot to talk about when he was twenty-questioning me,” he said and downed more of the interesting tasting Ale he was served. Spotting the concerned look in her face, he rose up a hand and assured her, “He was nice about it, very nice in fact. Can drink a lot that's for sure.”

“Wouldn't know, aside from his sister, can't say I'm too fond of the jerk,” said Alexsi with a hint of distaste in her voice. She was still sore about the whole kidnapping thing. Granted she got to see her Mom for a while, but an invitation would've been nicer. As Adrian reached for a piece of his armour and began to replace it back onto his chest, Alexsi snapped her fingers as a reminder, “Oh, that reminds me.”

Locking his chest piece back to his armour, Adrian watched as Alexsi wandered off quickly behind the bar, ducked underneath it and then returned with the box from last night. She placed it down onto the table before him and flipped the lid open, revealing the unusual ornament inside of it. The sight of it gave Adrian pause as he locked the last piece of his right arm back into place, leaving just the helm again. Glancing up to Alexsi he asked, “Wait, was this the gift that last guest left behind?”

“Yeah, I didn't think much of it before, but then I realised it looked like your armour, the material.” she replied, motioning at the open box, “Since it matches, I was wondering if you knew what it was.”

With a hum Adrian plucked the twelve sided object from the box and examined all the edges. Admittedly it was tough to say; his powers didn't afford him the ability to identify a piece of Elevas technology by looking at it. At a glance all he could tell was that it was a giant paperweight. He refrained from weaving it for now in case he broke it and instead reached for a PSU on his waist, recalling one of the many computerised devices from it.

“Good morning, Alexsi!” bellowed a merry greeting.

Alexsi turned her head and smiled to another one of the Inn's residents, a more familiar one that had been around for a while now. “Good morning Pyroduck,” she greeted the tall brown bear with deep green hair as he approached. A pair of deep red wings adorned his back and a spaded tail often belied the trademarks of a Dragon. A purple shirt, blue vest and grey pants adorned his body, his usual trademark clothing. “Did you sleep well?”

“Woke up a couple of times, but I did, yes, thank you,” replied Pyroduck. Feeling like he was being watched all of a sudden, he glanced down and caught eyes with Adrian. Armour and computers aside, it was surprising to see a Were here at the Inn, “Hey there, welcome to the Lost Lake Inn, we don't get too many Were's around here.”

Alexsi let out a smirk, “See, told you.”

“So you did,” replied Adrian with a raise of his eyebrows.

“Did I say something wrong?” wondered Pyroduck keeping a smile, perhaps he missed a joke somewhere or missed a conversation earlier. Adrian however shook his head and waved off his worry with a chuckle of his own. Taking that as a sign, the brown bear let it pass, “I saw Dan and Abel leave in a hurry earlier, did I miss something?” he asked Alexsi.

' _Leave earlier today?'_ She thought. “Not that I know of, did they say where they were going?” Pyroduck shook his head, seemingly as confused as she was. “Huh, beats me then.” she shrugged. Getting tired of standing, she seated herself down on the opposite side of the cubicle to her guest, “Any luck, you seem to be making progress?”

“I... have no idea, still.” admitted Adrian. Truthfully the computer was having a difficult time mostly because he didn't have anything to compare it to. That and the amount of Mana it was using was very negligible, there wasn't a lot you could do with such little amounts of energy. It was almost as if it was designed that way. For now Adrian took some readings and allowed his computer to keep analysing it. “For all I know it might just be a weight, or a light bulb. Strange gift you got here, Alexsi.” he said, pushing the box back towards her with the object placed back inside.

“What is that material?” asked Pyroduck, leaning over slightly and poking at the bauble, noting how smooth the surface was to the touch. From the corner of his eye, however, he also spotted the symbol of a bird on Adrian's armour.

“Elevas,” replied Adrian, “You've never seen it before?”

“Can't say I have, and I have done a lot of travelling too,” said Pyroduck returning upright. Adrian's equipment and this bauble was the first he had seen of anything of this Elevas. If it wasn't for mentioning the gift part he would've assumed all of it belonged to Adrian, “Strange, a gift, Alexsi?”

“From a guest who stayed for a few hours,” she replied, taking the bauble into her own hands. She was amazed at how light it felt despite the blocky size. A short knock on the side determined it to be completely solid too. This would be a very useless paperweight so far, “She said she worked for someone called the Red Baron, had to leave urgently and gave me this as a gift for the service.”

“The Red Baron? That's a very old name I haven't heard in a long time.” noted Pyroduck.

“Really?” said a curious Adrian.

“Yes, stories said they were a collector of fine arts and magic, but very reclusive.” replied the dragon.

“This Red Baron must be familiar with Elevas then to get it shaped like that.” pondered Adrian.

“Shaped, Adrian?” asked Alexsi, placing the bauble back in the box again and snapping it closed.

“Another, long story Alexsi,” replied Adrian pointing to the box, “Suffice to say that solid shape is not Elevas's natural form.” he looked up to Pyroduck, obviously this resident seemed to know a fair bit of lore in the world, “Is this Red Baron still around?”

Pyroduck however let out a light shrug, “Possibly, I can't say, but if someone is working for them then I can assume, yes?” he replied but with a sense of uncertainty. To be fair, it was going to be a long shot since all the stories of this Baron were wrapped in obscurity, few would know the truth at this point. Either the phoenix oracles, or, “You could try asking SAIA's headmistress if you can get in contact with her.” he suggested.

“SAIA?”

“Yeah,” reminded Pyroduck pointing to the back rooms with a thumb. “Though... I guess you could try going to the Twinks and asking Biggs as a long shot.”

“Ha, funny,” laughed Adrian, “I just came from there.”

"Oooh, the Twinks! I love that place. It's always got an adventure or two," a new voice excitedly sounded from the cubicle behind them.

Adrian glanced directly upwards and met a pair of turquoise eyes smiling down to him. Clad in a purple sort of dress/robe with an orange sash and scarf, a feline Being? with light purple fur yet very dark purple hair leant over the back of the cubicle. A set of fluttery orange wings adorned her back and two antennae sprouted from her head pulsing with a green sparkle light. It was those two antanne that gave Adrian pause if this was simply another being.

A small yellow-scaled creature resembling a drake was wrapped around her shoulders, it glared at Adrian with its solid black eyes, letting out a low, rumbling growl.

“Have we... met before?” asked Adrian, pointing up to the strange looking creature. His digit was suddenly bit down upon by the shiny yellow drake, his armour thankfully protecting him from any injuries. “...Well, nice to meet you too.” he said, glaring at the scaled one.

“I don't think we have,” replied Mab, answering his question, “I'm Mab, nice to meet you, I'm the resident Fae around here. And this is Pip.” she introduced, with Pip making a louder growl for a second.

Adrian blinked in pause, “Fae?”

“Yup.”

“Fae, as in a Fairy?”

Mab raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to one side, puzzled at the conclusion. Okay sure maybe the Fae could be called Fairies but that was unheard of. Even Pip looked at Adrian oddly from the remark, briefly, before it returned to chomping on the finger. “Naw, just Fae, have you never heard of us before?” she asked beaming her smile again.

“He's not from around here, Mab. Surely even the Fae aren't everywhere in Furrae,” said Alexsi, answering for her guest and watching as Adrian tugged on his finger, pulling the drake down from the Fae's shoulders and onto the table. Pip refused to let go and Alexsi rolled her eyes at it.

Leaning on her arms, Mab nodded to the side, “Well th at’s true.” she said before reaching down and bopping Adrian on the forehead gently. A little electrical spark shot through his hair and made a few ends straighten out. “You'd have to live in some pretty deep caves, or under some big rocks, or a different place entirely to not know about the Fae. ” she smiled and snapped her fingers causing a comb for form into existence, using the comb she brushed Adrian's hair into a curl.

“Do you moonlight as a hair stylist or something?” he asked, left confused at her very forward handling of his hair. Although he wondered more why his appearance didn't seem to strike her with any of the usual questions, he couldn't shake the strange feelings he got from her presence. Something out of the norm, not necessary unnatural, but not quite in the balance either.

“Mab, stop messing with my customers,” said Alexsi, eyeballing the troublemaker Fae.

“But he has such wavy brown locks!” protested Mab, curling the front end of Adrian's hair with her finger, styling it around much to the tolerance of the Being, “And look at those green eyes, they're darker than Dan's, have you ever seen that? Are you wearing contacts?”

“Aren't you the least bit put off by the rest of my appearance?”

“Nope, you look pretty neato to me.”

“Huh...”

Oddly Adrian wasn't surprised by this for some reason, less so than by the pink bow that was tied into the fringe of his hair now. If this was how most Fae acted he would've hated to have a group of them get together in the same room. Giggling, Mab slipped out from view and back to her own cubicle, however Pip remained still clamped down onto his finger. He gave a brief wiggle and that only made the Drake growl louder.

“Pip,” called Alexsi, a mallet with a long shaft now in her hand as she glared at the very 'playful' drake, “Going to give you a choice: let go, or I'll make you let go.” she declared then narrowed her eyes as a loud garble sounded in the air.

“Seriously?” grunted Adrian, his whole hand was now partly swallowed by the drake. This little thing clearly didn't like him for some reason. Or was just very territorial. He held his hand out to one side of the cubicle and shook it violently but to no avail to shake the drake off. He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as Alexsi now let out a growl of her own, standing from the chair with mallet in hand. Seeing the angry inn-keeper was enough to send the Drake running as she chased after it with a few words of 'wisdom' she provided.

Pyroduck remained, arms folded, with a smile as he watched her give chase, “Ah, never a dull moment here at the Inn.” he chuckled.

Adrian looked with a skeptical expression while shaking off his hand, a little sore from being lightly crushed by the drake's surprisingly powerful jaw. Closing up his computers, he returned them to his storage units before flipping up his helmet from the seat nearby to his hand. “This is the norm around here?” he asked, slipping the helmet on and clipping it in place.

“I'd be worried if it wasn't,” replied Pyroduck with a beam, he had gotten used to all of the strange antics that went on around here and almost felt sorry for the guests that often came through. Many of them were often left confused, if having enjoyed their stay at the Inn when they departed.

“How long have the Fae been around?” inquired Adrian, leaning over to ask Mab the question in the next cubicle, only to find the seat was empty. “Oh... she moves fast.” Not even his senses were aware she had gone so suddenly. That was rather alarming.

“All I can say is a LONG, long time,” said Pyroduck answering his question as Adrian came back to face him. He waved off one of his hands into the air, “Some say the Fae have been around before the universe came into existence.”

“That's a bold claim,”

“Want to try and disprove it?”

“That would be the same as me trying to prove the big bang theory happened.”

“The what?”

“Mm, nevermind.” grunted Adrian, shaking his head a little with a sigh. If what Pyroduck said was true about the Fae, surely he would've encountered some in his time, right? Something didn't add up, this world was shaping up to be more than just strange, it was a plain mess with the jumps in technology in strange areas, magic, and a race of beings that can do things that didn't follow the normal rules he was used to. Creating a comb out of thin air with no resources or draw from Mana? How was that possible? Or did he just miss the part where Mana did comply.

Come to think of it, all the instances where he saw Magic was used, Destania, the dragon from yesterday, there were some reverberations of Mana intertwined in the energy. But it wasn't quite Mana either, it was almost as if the 'spells' they used drew it in a different fashion. Perhaps that was the oddity he felt coming back into this world, the changes he sensed. Adrian had so much more to get used to than just a new land, new races and new culture it seemed.

“Hey you, big and silver!?” demanded an angry voice disturbing his thoughts.

Both of the two males looked down and to the side, a small brown furred ferret with striking red hair and a long racconish like red tail stood before them. Standing at half of their size but appearing to be a fully grown Being, she was dressed in blue jeans, a yellow tank top and deep blue cap. She tapped her foot, staring up to Adrian with a cross expression.

 


End file.
